Smile
by Evercold
Summary: Aburame don't smile, their bugs tunnel through their skin making it extremely painful, but Hinata does something that sure makes Shino want to smile. ShinoXHina
1. Prologue

**AN/: **Okaay, this is something I wrote during a partiulary boring mathclass, and I had this idea of why Shino has "_The Shino-face_" if you catch my drift… well anyways, I'm stuck with pretty much the last sentence and I'm working towards it, otherwise it might haunt me forever shivers

**Disclaimer – Well, I don't really own Naruto™ (hahaa, with a sporty trademark logo)**

"Oi! Hurry up, Bug-boy" The voice of Kiba Inuzuka penetrated the dense canopy. Shino Aburame, slightly annoyed though he didn't show it, accelerated in order to catch up with his team mates. He found them, scurried in the bushes, obviously hiding from something. Pretty much every other Rookie wouldn't have noticed them, but he wasn't just any rookie. He was an Aburame, and his team mates just happened to have disturbed a dozen of bugs or so. He could hear the noises of the agitated bugs, buzzing at a frequency, not hearable by normal humas, however, as said before, Shina was FAR from ordinary.

Hinata, well hidden and spying on the clash of two shinobi teams, looked back in order to see what had happened to Shino, just to find him, sitting there as if it was the most natural. She yelped quietly. The creepy boy gave her an odd look, or at least so she thought, even his expressed feelings were far easy to tell, him wearing sunglasses, and that collar. The fight ahead seemed to be decided, with one team gloating just until they noticed which scroll they'd just won. It was obvious that they were disappointed as they left their enemies, humbled, wounded or unconscious. Kiba waited for them to totally disappear before he got up and ordered the team to continue…

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Uhm yeah, that wasn't really a lot, uhm, in case you haven't guessed, this is during the chuunin thingy (long word pre...something, can't be bothered to spell it)


	2. Trap

**AN:/ finally ****I might be getting to add some the romance I promised by, uhm, categorizing this as romance. Sorry for the long wait, hence did anybody even wait for the next chapter?**

**Disclaimer – Unfortunatly I still do not own Naruto**

The forest wasn't of course silent, just knowing that Naruto is somewhere in it makes silence impossible, and yet team 8 found themselves in, what could only be described as, a place of perfect tranquillity, offering comfort to the chased genins. You couldn't avoid being chased when in this forest, yet the people from whom they took the scroll in the first place, had been stalking them ever since, drawing attention from at least one other group. Now they felt that the threat finally was gone. The burden that prey feel when the bloodhound prods it's nose into their lair, ready to call for the hunter, was now finally lifted from their shoulder. Shino turned to see Akamaru, lying on the ground, obviously asleep. Kiba just stood there, looking at his companion for life, before he himself lay down next to Akamaru. Hinata smiled shyly at this scene. They looked so peaceful down there and she couldn't help it herself.

_This must be a magical place_

She told herself before letting out a huge yawn, the past time hadn't been friendly to them, she had to admit. Everybody was worn out, with small wounds on their hands and in their faces. They were not to be blamed for being tired, and looking at the Inuzuka made her realize just how tired she was too. Without further thought she sat down against a tree. The trunk felt strangely soft and comfy, even though it was gnarled. Within a few seconds, Shino was sure he was the only one awake, and he too felt like succumbing to the tender feeling of safety, yet he didn't. Even if he had tried to would've done no difference, not now, not while his Kikai bugs were this agitated. He didn't know the reason for their consternation and it annoyed him slightly. He could feel them, buzzing inside him, and before he managed to calm them down, he found his face and hands covered with the tiny insects. He stared at them through his sunglasses as they began to nibble the air as if eating. Slightly surprised, though not showing it, Shino brought his hand up in front of his eyes. Each of the bugs continuously drew little blue sparks out of the air. As if the entire air was filled with charka. His eyes widened slightly, under his glasses, with realization. He had thought the tranquillity of this place to be supernatural and now he knew why.

Hastily he grabbed both of his team mates and as fast a possibly jumped off the ground and into the safety of the nearby trees. Roughly he shook Kiba, causing loud protests. He ignored them though, as he had yet another teammate to awaken. As he looked down on the sleeping Hinata, he realized that he couldn't get himself to shake her as he had Kiba. Instead he merely signalled to the dogboy that they had to escape as quickly as possible. Kiba send his friend an odd look but complied, knowing Shino it was probably important.

A loud swear came from the ground, confirming that whoever set up this trap, in order to cause their victims to fall into a merciless sleep, had noticed that the Shino in the clearing was nothing but a bugclone and that his fallen comrades was nothing more than a simple genjutsu. Had he not been Shino Aburame, he wouldn't've been able to help himself and laugh at their incompetence, but he was indeed Shino Aburame, and it was a known fact that Aburame didn't smile, let alone laugh.

The chase was on. Shino, still carrying Hinata, and Kiba was fleeing from an enemy of which they knew nothing.

Hinata hadn't been this comfy for a very long time. Most nights she lay restless, thinking of Naruto yet now the world only seemed to consist of peace and warmth. She sighed contently and slowly moved a bit towards the heat.

Shino's brow brows furrowed as he noticed Hinata snuggle closer to her. It wasn't what she did that caused this response from it. It was more like what it did to her that left him in consternation. He had known Hinata for a long time and she was pretty much like a sister to him. He stood by her when she needed him, he supported her, trusted her, helped her. The Aburame knew only a few friends, but those they really trusted, were true friends. Yet why did this simple thing she did, moving closer to him, cause this response from him? It was not as if he didn't knew what it meant, he just wondered why it happened to him.

"_Increased facial heat?_"

he asked himself, and had Kiba looked up at that time, he would've seen his teammate, blushing for the first time and, which he didn't know at that time, not the last one.


	3. Fright

Fright 

**A/n: I kinda write this as it pops up, that's the reason for the ****irregular posting times, sry.**

**Oh by the way, in case you didn't notice, every time I start a new paragraph it's because I change the ****PoV, or because of a change of time. I hate all those "later – well not that much later but still later"-things that disturb my reading.**

**Disclaimer: aargh, I forget to do these things. Still, I do not own Naruto. But I ****do own a homemade duct tape samurai sword (I hate getting beaten by duct tape weapons, but I don't mind if I'm the one doing the beating) **

Kiba yelled with overdone excitement, and Shino couldn't help but to feel just a bit amused when watching his team mate jumping around while shouting stuff like, "ha-ha, take that suckers!" or "Better luck next time" while Akamaru joyfully added the occasional barks. Shino had to admit that he too was relieved that they had escaped their, not dangerous but somewhat persistent, stalkers. Hinata was still sound asleep, lying on the ground at his feet, and Shino had yet to wake her up, there was no time for snoozing in this perilous forest.

"Sh… Shino-kun?" she asked confused, looking at the buguser crouching besides her. She got herself up sitting, looking briskly from Shino to Kiba, not understanding what was going on. "We had to escape and there was no time to wake you" Shino clarified, she furrowed her brows, wondering what had required such a drastic escape, the last _she_ remembered was peace. "Are you ready to continue?" he asked her rhetorically, an indirect order she knew. Kiba had finally settled, ceasing his dance of victory and he now came looking over Shino's shoulder. Hinata apologized and rose. Her body was still kinda wobbly from sleeping, her limbs weak and her sight unclear. She shuddered and shook slightly, trying to banish the sleepiness.

"Let's move on", Shino suggested, drawing annoyed looks from Kiba who considered himself "pack-leader". He chose to ignore this however and jumped of the ground and into the canopy above. His posture, stoic as always, seemed rather ridiculous as you saw him jump ahead, hands in pockets, he simply looked like somebody who was merely taking a hike. Hinata giggle lightly at this thought before she jumped off in order to catch up with him, Kiba followed, rather grumpylooking.

"Kiba we should get to the tower", Shino told his overeager team mate. It's not that he wasn't able to see the logic in the fact that if they, as Kiba had suggested, took additional scrolls there would be less in circuit, meaning that they would have less contestants in the final test. It was just the way he said it, with his arms wide into the air he looked pretty much like an evil scientist doing his insane monolog. Before he was able to stop him though, his teammate had jumped up leaving him a Hinata on the branch. He peeked at the meek girl. She looked rather frightened by the fact that they had to stay in the forest for longer than needed. "let's go find that hothead" he told her softly "…and drag him to the tower if we must" His voice turned more stern at the end of the last sentence and Hinata giggled faintly even though she knew that her friend was serious as always. In all the time she had known Shino, he had always been serious. Some things, things he liked doing, made him less serious but she never knew when he was "happy", if he ever was. He always seemed so calm, she admired that. Had she only been able to be just as calm around Naruto-kun, things might've gone better, but there was an important difference; Shino wasn't in love.

Oh if she only knew…

"What's up?" Shino asked as he landed on the ground beside Kiba and a whimpering Akamaru. "I don't know, he suddenly stopped" Kiba said in a low whisper, his voice less wild from being concerned. Hinata stepped up on the other side of Shino and asked "wh-what's wrong Akamaru?" The puppy whimpered something very, very faintly and snug closer to Kiba. "He can feel an opponent's chakra" Kiba clarified and placed Akamaru under his shirt before continuing, "but I've never seen him this scared, whoever is in that clearing, has an enormous chakra" The team turned there attention to the clearing where they saw… a boy. He wasn't extremely tall, not compared to his team mates that obviously were older than him. He had reddish brown hair and a huge gourd on his back. He stood there with a defiant stature but a somewhat bored look on his face. Opposite from him stood a group of three men. They seemed quite furious with this boy and the tension in the air was so dense that everyone was _certain_ they were going to start fighting too.

A big man stepped forward with a haughty look on his, well hideous, face. Akamaru whimper again and pressy his frail body against Kiba. "What did he say?" Hinata asked concerned. All of them knew they had better been out of there in a hurry but the tension in the air had left them mesmerized, they _had_ to see what was going to happen. It was like in a movie where you want to know the ending. Kiba swallowed, "He said; the big man's in trouble"

"I could just cover your mouth" The icecold youth said, "But that wouldn't be fun" Hinata shiverede as Gaara, for that was his name, held out his hand. They could hear bone splinter and suddenly all of them found them covered in a semithick substance which origin was undeniable. Shino gazed to Hinata and just as expected he found her shivering, badly. "_No wonder_" he thought to himself, knowing Hinata this was probably the first time she saw someone die, even though death was an integrated part of a Shinobi's job. While looking at the terrified girl, Shino suddenly felt a huge desire to comfort her, beyond that of a teammate. It confused him and at the same time annoyed him. He could not explain this irregular behavialpattern by any other means that the chemistry he also found between his parents, what people called love. These thoughts lead him away from his normal way of thinking, very analytic and distant, he liked thinking that way, it made him feel more than a man and he thought it went well with the Aburame-mystique, yet now he was nothing but a confused boy who's initial though pretty much was: "_WHAT?!!_"

His train of thoughts was interrupted though, by the dying screams of two people. As he brutally was forced back into reality he noticed that Hinata was on the verge of breaking down. Before he could stop himself he had reach down and gently engulfed her hand with his, trying to keep his face stoic and the blush at bay. Her skin was soft and a bit dry, her hand seemed tense at first but slowly it relaxed in his making it more comfortable for both of them. It actually did have a stunning effect on her, even though still scared, she stopped shivering and Shino couldn't do anything but calling this a success.

She wanted it to stop! They had already abandoned all resistance and yet the boy with the scary eyes, strangely alike her own, wouldn't let them go. He had already killed their teammate, the one with the umbrellas, and now the two remaining ninja suddenly got covered in sand. Her body shook as tears swelled up into her eyes. She tried to tune out their dying screams, in vain when suddenly she felt something, touching her hand. The touch was gentle and she looked down, semicuriosly, to find Shino's hand, holder hers everso carefully. She blushed and smiled her shy smile while looking up at the Aburame whose face was as passive as always, yet she could've sworn that she saw a faint blush on his cheeks. She shifted her hand so it fitted better into his. It actually did help, she stopped shaking as if his hand send little signals of peace up through her arm.

The boy, Gaara, continued pointing his arm in their direction and they _knew_ they had been spotted. Every word said in the clearing meant nothing to the genin any longer. They already considered themselves more or less, dead. Kiba and Hinata really wore their fear right out front, but Shino was unable to show his. As Hinata clutched his hand tighter, Shino realized that maybe Hinata might never know of his developing feelings for her.

The Aburame didn't show their feelings. Their bugs had tunnels throughout their entire body, including the face, which made most facial expression, _very_ painful. Young Aburame who had just received their first hive would learn this the bitter way. The Aburame didn't connect their facial expression to their feelings since the amount of expressions was so small. Anything short of annoyance or maybe a dropped jaw every once and a while didn't do the least impression on their face. They knew what facial expressions meant to other people but had themselves learned to rely on other things such as, but not restricted to, smell and bodypositure.

Then before he ever got to say to her that he cared for her, more than he should, the threat had vanished. Whatever the two sunagenin had said to the creepy sandkid, it had worked. As suddenly as he had entered their lives, he was gone again, leaving the three genin, sitting, out of breath. Hinata was still shivering a bit but most of it had taken off. "What a monster" Kiba said, expressing what all of them felt. Shino panted with his mouth slightly open. Had Kiba or Hinata bothered to wonder, they would've noted that this entire situation had left Shino more startled that they had ever seen him. Kiba did notice something though which he, being Kiba, soon expressed.

"Oi bugboy, what are you doing with Hinata's hand?"

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**A/n: well, that is my idea of the Aburame. that's why i like that clan, you know absolutely nothing about it. Btw, in the animé Kiba's in the middle (when spying on Gaara) with Hinata on one side and Shino on the other. But that would make it awfully difficult for them to hold hands so I changed it. Hope you like it **

**Please review or i might get a Shikamaru-ish attitude. Reviews motivates me **


	4. Smile

**Disclaimer – I do not own Naruto™ (Hahaa, return of the evil trademark****-logo of **_**DOOM)**_

"Ha-haaa, we're the first here" Kiba Inuzuka had triumphantly yelled at the tower, that was, before they heard the sound of voices, echoing through the empty corridors. All three of the genin froze as some familiar people came walking past. "AWWW, We've already been here for three hours, ain't something going to happen soon?!" a loud voice exclaimed in annoyance. Suddenly, the cold glance of the murderous youth was upon them yet again. He knew them, and they knew he knew them, and he knew they knew he knew them, and… yeah…

Hinata's eyes caught those of the murdered, and instantly, almost automatically, he hand found Shino's yet again, taking whatever comfort it had to offer. She had just asked to Akamaru's wellbeing, now it was her own of which she was concerned. Yet she could not help but to feel the same kind of tickling, sprinkling out from Shino's fingers and into her own. It was kind off like when Naruto looked her into the eyes, except different, this had a warm feeling of safety in it something Naruto never had been able to offer her. It wasn't like she was crushing on Shino, at least not which she knew of, Naruto never failed to make her happy. Shino didn't do that; all he did was offering he comfort. Not that that in it self wasn't a small feat, a homicidal murderer staring at them and all. Suddenly she realized that the boy already had moved on, leaving them standing there, staring. She glanced to look at her team mates. Shino was stoic as always though it did seem as if the blush had snug its way onto his cheeks again. It actually made him look cute in his own kind of way. She quickly forced her eyes away from him before she too had to blush. Suddenly she found that Kiba was missing. She yelped and catching Shino's attention, making him let of her hand, which felt surprisingly disappointing. Shino glared at her a moment through the glasses before he nodded down at the floor were the boy and his canine companion was to be found, obviously fainted.

Shino sighed inaudibly at hauled Kiba up to place him, lying at one of the benches, this didn't seem to be bothering the dogboy had he continue to be sound(ly) asleep. He heard Hinata giggle and Shino couldn't blame her; heck the boy even amused _him_ now and then. As he sat down besides his sleeping teammate he turned his glance to Hinata watching her without her knowing. She was a lot more relaxed around them he noticed, but an edge remained, rendering her a bit uneasy in his company specifically. "Hinata," he said and noticed her flinches visibly, "aren't you going to sit down?" She stuttered some reply which he deciphered to be a 'yes'. He moved slightly, making space for her on the bench which she gratefully accepted. "Sh-Shino-kun… A-aren't glad it´s … over?" her voice broke the silence that had permeated to room only seconds ago. Shino turned to face her and she flinched yet again, he was so close. "Are you afraid of me?" she heard him say, she quickly looked up at his face, was that regret in his voice?

Shino felt disappointed. Even when alone only the two of them, Hinata couldn't relax and it annoyed him greatly. He had asked her if she was afraid of him, though he knew the answer. "no, I'm not" she answered, and even though it was perfectly what he'd expected her to say, he was content in being proven wrong. She had said it perfectly calm which made him believe her. "You're always there for me…" she said and he looked up curious, there was more? "…and what you did in the forest…" a light pink invaded her cheeks and it didn't escape the Aburame's analyzing gaze, "it… it really helped… Thank you" She leaned over and hugged him, ever so gently. It lasted only a couple of seconds but unknown to each other, they both enjoyed it, a lot, and were regretful when she let go of him. Shino was to first to break out of the eye-to-sunglasses contact that had been established right after the hug, he cleared his throat, inwardly shushing his buzzing Kikaibugs who had been alarmed by the shot of adrenalin he had received when she made contact to her. "Hinata-chan..." he started but didn't know how to continue. Just how would he tell her that what happened between them in the forest was something he wanted to happen again? This feeling scared him in all of its newness. He opened his mouth in order to explain but found her hand on his lips. A very shy smile was on her face, "You comforted me when I needed it the most…" she said, still with the mysterious smile on her face. "… i-it was reserved for N-Naruto-kun… but" she was prodding her finger together in that shy way she always did. They quickly broke connection though as she reached up, pulling down the collar in order to slowly lean in. Shino saw her face coming closer to his own, her eyes had closed and everything seemed to pass very, very slowly. He watched her, little strand of hair danced back and forth as she came closer and closer. He calculated her current course and realized that she was going to hit his nose, not his mouth. He turned his head a bit, the second before their mouths touched. It wasn't spectacular, he didn't see any fireworks, but it made him happy never the less. She withdrew, beet red. The kiss had only lasted a second but it was more than enough for Shino. The Aburame couldn't smile, they never did, but Shino sure did feel like smiling now.


End file.
